Tuesday, 8 December 2015

Join the Arts Crusade!

Hello,
thanks for stopping by. I’ll pop on the kettle, in the meantime, here’s
a little about what the Arts Crusade is all about...

I'm a mum of 3, living in Hackney for the past 15 years. I'm a blow in, but I feel more like a local. It's that kind of place.

Known
for it's young, hipster population and rocketing property prices, this
London borough is a creative melting pot and a real mix of "haves" and
"have nots". According to most recent statistics, 41% of children in the
borough live in poverty. That's a LOT of kids.

I believe that
kind of economic disadvantage makes it almost impossible for those kids
to lift themselves out of poverty and create the kind of future I
foresee for my own three thoroughly privileged offspring.

As one
of eleven kids from a not-so-privileged family myself, I’m a firm
believer in the power of education and culture to create opportunities
and brighten futures;

“Participation in Cultural activities can raise self-esteem, increase
life chances, raise aspirations as well as provide positive
opportunities that can contribute to citizenship and divert from
anti-social behaviour."(Arts Council England)

Hackney
is one of the most vibrant cultural economies in London. With all the
creative, cultural venues we have on our doorstep, and all the efforts
made (and money spent) by local government to encourage it,
participation levels among lower income families are abysmal. There’s no
excuse, right? Wrong. It’s no surprise that economic disadvantage is
the biggest barrier to participation in the arts.

With this Arts
Crusade, I want to get Hackney families and children participating in
more of the brilliexcellent arts and cultural activities taking place on
our doorstep. I want to see if we can start a grassroots movement to
get families who wouldn’t normally visit a museum, or go to a play, or
participate in #artyfarty stuff to do just that. Why? Because
#artmakesyousmart and #cultureisgoodforyou!

So I’ll be listing lots of free cultural activities on the Facebook page, making suggestions on Pinterest and getting involved in conversations on Twitter.
I’ll be exploring why the elitist view of the arts persists and I’ll be
sharing the views of local artists and cultured folk, as well as their
recommendations on how and where to get #artyfarty.

Anyone can
submit suggestions and recommendations, comment is free and
participation is very much encouraged! All sharing and tweeting and
liking and following and ranting and contributing welcome.

This
borough has been good to me. And I want to try to be good to it. One
small step and all that. Here goes The Arts Crusade, hope you’re with
me.